There is a newcomer from England in the Armenian team - Egishe Melikyan announced the list of legionnaires

Armenia national team head coach Yeghishe Melikyan has announced the list of foreign-based players called up for the national team’s March friendly matches against the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.

Ten legionnaires were included in the squad. The only newcomer is 18-year-old Sunderland forward Finn Geragousian. This season he plays for Sunderland U21, where he has already scored 12 goals. Previously, the striker played two matches for the Armenia U21 national team.

Artyom Bandikyan of CSKA Moscow has received his second call-up to the national team. The midfielder has already made his debut for Armenia and appeared once in a match against Portugal.

Otherwise, the squad is largely expected. Midfielder Ugochukwu Iwu was not included as he is recovering from injury. Earlier, Tigran Barseghyan and Lucas Zelarayán announced their retirement from the national team.

Also not called up were winger Edgar Sevikyan of Russian club Akron and goalkeeper Ognen Čančarević, who plays for Serbian club IMT.

Armenia national team legionnaires list

• Eduard Spertsyan (Krasnodar, Russia)

• Georgiy Harutyunyan (Puskás Akadémia, Hungary)

• Stepa Mkrtchyan (Nürnberg, Germany)

• Nair Tiknizyan (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia)

• Vahan Bichakhchyan (Legia Warsaw, Poland)

• Grant-Leon Ranos (Eintracht Braunschweig, Germany)

• Artur Miranyan (Bnei Sakhnin, Israel)

• Narek Grigoryan (Farul, Romania)

• Finn Geragousian (Sunderland, England)

• Artyom Bandikyan (CSKA Moscow, Russia)

It is noted that the list of players from the Armenian Premier League will be announced later.

Upcoming matches

In March, Armenia will play two friendly matches:

• March 26 — vs UAE (scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi, though it may be moved due to regional military tensions).

• March 29 — vs Belarus in Yerevan.

Finn Geragusian of Sunderland receives his first call-up to the Armenia national team: who he is and what he can bring to the team